Central China's Zigui realizes “dividend” after rolling out intelligent water-fertilizer control system

After adopting an integrated water and fertilizer control system, orange orchards in Zigui county, central China's Hubei province are now able to save more than 70 percent of water, 40 percent of fertilizer and 90 percent of labor inputs per mu (about 0.06 hectares) under cultivation, indicated statistics.

Local villagers promote sales of ripened oranges via online platforms. (Photo/chinanews.com)

Zigui county is home to more than 8,000 mu of orange orchards that have adopted an integrated, intelligent water-fertilizer dual control system, which can be operated remotely by farmers through an Internet network or connected mobile phone, which allows for the realization of automated irrigation and fertilization operations.

"We have adopted the integrated water-fertilizer control system in our agricultural demonstration garden. When the monitoring system indicates that the soil moisture is inadequate, we can irrigate this area immediately using a mobile phone," said Liu Guohua, an orange farmer at the Yandengbao agricultural demonstration garden in Zigui county.

Liu added that one farmer can irrigate more than 30 mu of land just by using his mobile phone.

Photo shows the Yandengbao agricultural demonstration garden in Zigui county. (Photo/chinanews.com)

The widespread application of the integrated water and fertilizer dual control system is only one instance of attempts at making agricultural production more intelligent in Zigui county. In fact, the county pooled together data from various platforms and departments in the orange growing industry chain, in this way optimizing supervision over the quality of the fruit products.

Systems such as those concerning integrated water and fertilizer control, data collection, data displaying, the Internet of Things, and plant protection drones can greatly assist farmers in carrying out their work, said Han Qingzhong, director of the agricultural science and technology service center in Zigui county.

Villagers process freshly-picked oranges inside a plant. (Photo/chinanews.com)

As reported, there are more than 1,600 e-commerce enterprises and more than 3,300 online stores operating in Zigui county, with more than 50,000 farmers engaged in the cultivation of characteristic agricultural products, all of which have contributed to the introduction of 23,000 newly created jobs in county’s e-commerce sector. 

Aerial photo of orange orchards located in Zigui county. (Photo/chinanews.com)

A white tea garden demonstration base featuring intelligent agricultural systems. (Photo/chinanews.com)